It’s official – Blu-ray 3D engages viewers more than Blu-ray, which in turn is more engaging than standard DVD.

That’s the result of the neurological research released this week by the Mindlab International team at the Sussex Innovation Centre.

Testing the attention, emotion and engagement levels of different home entertainment disc formats on a group of subjects, our study monitored subjects’ heart rates, skin conductance levels (EDA) and brain activity levels (EEG) whilst they watched film clips and trailers in Blu-ray 3D, Blu-ray and DVD formats.

Subjects’ attention levels were 29% higher, their engagement levels were 18% higher and their emotional levels were 8% higher when comparing their reactions between Blu-ray 3D and standard DVD footage.

We invited those tech and gadget gurus at Pocket-lint to take part in the experiment too – you can check out their exclusive write up here.

What do Lex Luther, The Joker and Magneto all have in common? They’re all screen super-villains of course and pretty good ones at that.

Next year sees another entry into the bad guy arena, as Universal Pictures releases animated family adventure ‘Despicable Me’ on Blu-ray Disc in February.

Voiced by Steve Carell, this hilarious comedy follows wannabe evil overlord Gru, as he hatches a dastardly plan to steal the moon with the help of an army of yellow minions.

Set to be released in a Triple play pack including BD, DVD and Digital copy of the movie, fans can look forward to an abundance of special features. Exclusive to the BD are cast and filmmaker interviews, ‘Gru’s Rocket Builder Game’, three new mini-movies about the minions called ‘Home Makeover’, ‘Orientation Day’ and ‘Banana’, and a feature on the film’s score called ‘Despicable Beats’, starring renowned music producer and hip-hop star Pharrell Williams.

Last week we reported on the record-breaking launch of Avatar in the US and other territories. This success has been mirrored in the UK, where it sold 222,824 copies in one day and became the fastest selling Blu-ray Disc so far in the region.

This success was anticipated by supermarket giant Tesco, who kept 180 of its stores open until midnight to meet demand.

Speaking about the success, Tesco’s home movie buying manager Keith Metcalfe comments on the positive impact it has had on the Blu-ray industry overall:

“The release of Avatar is being seen by the industry as a historic moment in the development of the Blu-ray format – potentially the tipping point that many people have waited for to get their first Blu-ray player. We think it could replicate what happened when The Matrix was released on DVD in 1999, which was the point when many people bought their first DVD players.”

While the advantages of Blu-ray Disc over DVD are clear to many, there are those still to make the jump from DVD. Upscaling DVD players are also often wrongly assumed to offer an HD experience that can rival BD.

With this in mind, Home Cinema Buyer has a great article comparing DVD to Blu-ray Disc. Using Terminator Salvation on Blu-ray Disc and upscaled DVD, they compare all aspects of the experience, from picture quality and audio to start-up time.

In short, Blu-ray was judged overwhelmingly to be the winner. They note that “the sharpness and picture quality of Terminator Salvation on the Blu-ray player was instantly noticeable,” while the uncompressed DTS audio was “in a different league” to the DVD.

The article concludes with the following verdict: “As much as we love the DVD format (and we do really, really love DVD!), it has had its day now – Blu-ray is the way to go.”

Kathryn Bigelow’s critically acclaimed The Hurt Locker, nominated for nine Academy Awards and already the recipient of six BAFTA awards, has continued its phenomenal success by becoming Lions Gate Home Entertainment’s fastest selling title ever on Blu-ray Disc.

Since its release on BD and DVD in late December, The Hurt Locker has notched up total sales of 310,000 units, 85,000 of which are Blu-ray Disc sales. Marie-Claire Benson, Marketing Director, Lions Gate Home Entertainment, said: “We are thrilled with the current success of The Hurt Locker to date. We took the decision to continue to promote the title on account of all the nominations and awards it has been receiving. The combination of intense drama, critical acclaim and the exceptional coverage it is garnering, has translated into strong sales on both DVD and Blu-ray. We are particularly pleased with the Blu-ray results, which have accounted for at least 25% of total sales each week since release.”

In addition to its awards success, The Hurt Locker has been named in over 250 top ten lists for 2009 in the US and UK media and has been honoured at several film festivals. Directed by Kathryn Bigelow and written by Mark Boal, The Hurt Locker stars Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, Brian Geraghty, Evangeline Lilly, Ralph Fiennes, David Morse and Guy Pearce.

For details on the special features available on the Hurt Locker Blu-ray, click here.

Last week, UK TV programme The Gadget Show carried out an interesting experiment to get a better idea of the emotional impact of the Blu-ray experience when compared with DVD.

It took a group of students from Aston University and hooked them up with equipment to monitor any changes in their heart rates. Half of the group then watched a sequence from the BBC’s nature documentary Life on Blu-ray Disc, while the other half watched the same scene on DVD.

As they watched, the team monitored changes in heart rate, with some startling results. The group watching the DVD saw an average increase in heart rate of 26.7%, but the Blu-ray group’s average increased by 39% – which is more than half as much again.

The experiment was a great way to demonstrate the added excitement and immersion that Blu-ray Discs can deliver. If you’d like to see it for yourself, click here to watch the segment online.﻿